The Ukrainian army continues its slow advance in the east and south of the country, with, it seems, substantial gains in the outskirts of Bakhmout, in the Donbass. But everywhere, in the theater of operations, the Ukrainians are slowed down by the fierce defense of the Russians who have established a veritable wall of trenches protected by minefields.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Ukraine, Stephane Siohan
South of Zaporizhia, a group of National Guard soldiers face this problem on a daily basis. One of them, whose nom de guerre is “the accountant”, is a veterinarian by profession. Now its function is clear enemy trenches weapon in hand. But for that, it is still necessary to succeed in approaching it. ” Since the start of our counter-offensive, our most serious challenge has been mines laid by the enemy, anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines, there are a lot of all types and that slows down our progress enormously “says the accountant.
Recently, he and his men found a Russian officer’s notebook in a trench, revealing that before the next position they had to cross a field strewn with 5,000 mines anti-tank. As a result, the Ukrainians cannot engage armored columns. ” We have sapper and engineer units that pave the way for the infantry. Meter by meter they comb the ground with metal detectors, but the price to pay is very heavy, we have losses among the engineers and the infantrymen who are at the front. But we have no other solution “says the soldier.
The strategy of the Ukrainians is therefore to strike behind the Russian lines to weaken the enemy disposition. ” At the moment our artillery is firing more and more accurately than that of the Russians. But to engage our tanks more effectively, we need to close the skies and protect our soldiers on the ground from aerial bombardment, but right now that’s just not possible. “, he regrets.
In this context, the Ukrainians are progressing, but the counter-offensive will not show tangible results until the beginning of autumn.